Virtual eviction hearings to continue at LTB despite Ontario’s new ban
January14, 2021: The fine print of the document reveals what many tenants and advocates were afraid of: the virtual eviction hearings that have been taking place at record speed at the Landlord Tenant Board over the past few months will continue despite the ban.
‘The Landlord and Tenant Board will continue to hear eviction applications and issue orders, but the enforcement of eviction orders will be postponed for the duration of the emergency order, except in urgent situations—such as for illegal activity,’ notes the release.
As Ontario’s eviction blitz continues, Toronto tenants fight for a ban: The Landlord Tenant Board has processed thousands of eviction applications since Doug Ford's government lifted a moratorium in the summer
December 13, 2020: On December 4, a Toronto tenant from Fountainhead Road was unable to make it to her hearing. The lawyer representing landlord Ranee Management, Ilana Glickman, noted that the tenant, who is a single mother, had been making “significant” rent payments.
The adjudicator, Shannon Kiekens, who heard from Glickman that the landlord was willing to settle on a solution, granted a “standard order for eviction,” which requires the tenant to pay the full amount asked within 11 days, after which point the landlord has the right to automatically file for eviction.
In an email, a rep for the LTB told NOW that the adjudicator may decide to dismiss a hearing if a landlord does not show up, but if the tenant ‘is not present despite the LTB having provided the respondent with the Notice of Hearing in accordance with the LTB’s usual practice, the adjudicator may decide to proceed with the hearing after waiting an appropriate amount of time.’
Landlord and Tenant Board adjudicator issues interim order that favours landlord despite potential conflict of interest
December 4, 2020: An adjudicator at the Landlord and Tenant Board who admitted to being in a conflict of interest issued an order advocates say weakened the legal position of a tenant facing eviction after losing his job during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Nov. 25, adjudicator Shannon Kiekens was presiding over a virtual hearing between Pinedale Properties and a member of a largely immigrant, working-class tenants’ union, the East York 50.
The lawyer for Pinedale Properties, Kristin Ley, works for the prominent pro-landlord law firm Cohen Highley, where Kiekens worked as a paralegal for 20 years until earlier this year.
“These orders are very common,” Hale said. While he and El-houni say that this sort of order can be appropriate and reasonable, “its overuse suggests that the LTB (Landlord and Tenant Board) sees itself less as a protection for tenants from unfair eviction and more as the enforcer of timely rent payment,” Hale said.
People want Ontario to reinstate the residential eviction ban
December 1, 2020: Toronto and Peel have been in full lockdown 2.0 for more than a week now, and residents are wondering why, if so many are out of work once more, a ban on residential evictions hasn't been reinstated.
The power lies in the jurisdiction of the province, which moved to place a moratorium on such evictions during the first major pandemic lockdown back in March, but it expired in July after the state of emergency in Ontario was lifted and jurisdictions reopened to a level that felt almost normal.
Advocacy groups protested to have the ban extended as many residents remained in financially precarious waters thanks to the health crisis, and the introduction of Bill 184 later in the summer made it easier for landlords to boot tenants from their property.
Toronto Tenants Are Refusing To Pay Rent To Protest A City-Wide 'Eviction Blitz '
December 1, 2020: A number of residents in Parkdale have been voluntarily withholding their rent payments in order to put pressure on their landlord and secure key housing demands for their less fortunate neighbours.
In a press release tweeted out on Tuesday, the Toronto tenants in question say they'll pay their rent if the building's landlord can assure them that there won't be any evictions for people who can't afford to pay their rent due to the pandemic.
They're also demanding a meeting with the owner of the building, MetCap CEO Brent Merrill, to discuss their proposal.
Demonstrators hold anti-eviction rally outside downtown property management office
December 5, 2020: Protesters gathered outside the head offices of MetCap Living, a property management group for more than 300 apartment communities in the city, near Richmond and Jarvis Streets.
Parkdale Organize, the group behind the rally, said they wanted to meet with Metcap CEO Brent Merill to present four demands.
Those demands include no evictions, no rent increases and rent forgiveness for struggling tenants.
'People are being shown no mercy': Online evictions raise alarm in Ontario
December 26, 2020: Tenant after tenant addressed the virtual meeting, describing how COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on their lives and finances over the last year.
A Toronto mother said she struggled to keep up with bills after losing work in the restaurant industry. A Hamilton man behind on rent payments said he was staying in touch with his landlord about his financial situation after being laid off.
‘It’s COVID, people struggle,’ he appealed to Landlord and Tenant Board member John Mazzilli during the Dec. 18 block of hearings—all of which involved non-payment of rent.
Technological barriers leave low-income renters at risk of eviction under COVID-19
December 17, 2020: Though Ontario suspended evictions earlier this year, the ban was lifted in August. Many local tenants have been caught in an evictions "blitz" that lawyers for low-income people say is "unconscionable."
While COVID-19 still rages, the Ontario tribunal that hears complaints and considers measures like eviction is conducting its business online, which poses technological challenges for tenants without internet or with limited phone minutes.
All this while winter is nearing and the weather is getting colder. Advocates are lobbying Premier Doug Ford to reinstate a ban on evictions through the winter.”
Tenant advocates map Toronto eviction blitz, urge solidarity
December 4, 2020: “While Premier Doug Ford promised earlier this year that no one would be evicted during the pandemic, his government lifted a moratorium on hearings back in August, and the LTB has since kicked back into gear despite higher COVID-19 caseloads than in the first wave. […]
In response, the Keep Your Rent advocacy group is inviting those facing the tribunal to share details — they’ve collected more than a hundred of these so far — in order to better prepare them to fight.
‘We are telling them that they need to be communicating with their neighbours, they need to realize that they are part of a bigger struggle, that they are not alone in being behind on rent during COVID,” said MaryAnn Icaro, who got active with Keep Your Rent early in the pandemic and has been observing hearings in the recent uptick.
‘What we've been seeing, especially for these tenants that we are not in contact with, that are not organizing, that are isolated, they are finding themselves with standard orders,’ she said, which typically give a tenant less than two weeks to pay their arrears.
Toronto renters facing crisis amid ongoing eviction blitz
December 1, 2020: In one case, for example, the child of tenant who is not fluent in English was pressured to agree to a rent repayment plan on the parent's behalf.
The plan included a clause that would allow the landlord to get an automatic eviction order if the tenant is ever late by a dollar or a day on any scheduled repayment, and the child had no choice but to agree despite their parents' inability to understand what was happening.
In another situation, a tenant expressed that she did not feel comfortable giving out her phone number publicly while on the call because she is a survivor of domestic abuse, but she was told she had no choice if she wanted to access Tenant Duty Counsel.